Wikipedia
Dramanon (short for Dramatist Anonymous) is an English language theatre group that operates out of three cities in India: Manipal, Bangalore and Hyderabad. The three chapters of Dramanon are well integrated and enjoy a strong collaborative bond apart from a common origin. Till date, Dramanon has staged 50 productions & 250+ shows across the country.
Established in 2000 by Mr Ramakrishna Shenoy faculty at the college of architecture Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT), Manipal, and late Mr Chandan Shatapathy, faculty at WGSHA, Manipal, Dramanon was founded to address the need for a common platform where the diverse student body of Manipal meets to commune, express and share.
Through varied pursuits - play reading, acting workshops, script writing workshops and performances, Dramanon grew organically into its founding vision - an informal, unofficial theatre group that brought the students and faculty members of MAHE (Manipal Academy of Higher Education, now known as Manipal University), together in a creative endeavor.
The first play that was done in Manipal was Cactus flower and since then over 30 productions have been staged. The notable plays being- Comic potential by Alan Ayckbourn, The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie, and Lights out by Manjula Padmanabhan.
Dramanon Manipal grew in number and strength from there on into a vibrant, young theatre group that stages two productions every year to packed houses. With every passing year, it has been steadily grooming actors, directors, stage managers and designers.
In 2006, the student alumni of Dramanon, Manipal, helped Dramanon spread its wings by establishing chapters in Bangalore.
The Hyderabad chapter of Dramanon was established by Mr Ramakrishna Shenoy in 2007.
Dramanon Bangalore is now run by full-time professional theater artistes. Some past productions staged by Dramanon Bangalore are – The Original Last Wish Baby, Pizzazz , Alarms and Excursions, Sic , Elling, This, Once, on that street & Pagdi. Dramanon regularly stages its plays at Bangalore’s premier theatre venues – Ranga Shankara & Jagriti, and have also been part of Short +Sweet International Theatre Festival, ’11 & ’12, Writer’s Bloc Festival ’12 at Prithvi & NCPA, Mumbai, Ranga Shankara Shakespeare Theatre Festival,’12 & most recently the Jagriti New Writing Festival,'14. Dramanon Bangalore is also involved in leveraging theatre tools and techniques to drive employee engagement initiatives in companies and have also co-produced popular audiobooks such as Amish’s “Secret of the Nagas” & Devdutt Pattanaik’s “Jaya”.
Dramanon Hyderabad has found a unique voice in Hyderabad’s English theatre circles. Collaborating with other prominent English theatre groups, It has played a pivotal role in creating an audience for English theatre in Hyderabad. Some of their recent plays include Fools, The Good Doctor, Doubles and Pizazz, 6 & Can't Pay, Won't Pay. 6 is Dramanon's first original play and it comprises six short stories, Pointless to a point, Uncommon dialogues, Dark light, Four play, Four shades of grey, For letter word are a collection of short plays. Bhopal a play by Rahul Verma was highly appreciated and our latest offering India oye an adaptation of America Hurrah by Jean-Claude van Itallie was extremely well received by the Hyderabad audience. Dramanon Hyderabad also performed in the prestigious Samahaara Hyderabad Theatre Festival 2009 and Samahaara Hyderabad Theatre and Short Film Festival 2010 with the plays Neil Simon's The Good Doctor, Dario Fo's Can't Pay, Won't Pay and Bhopal. Dramanon Hyderabad has also won at the best play at the AYNA theatre competition 2012 and 2013. In 2014 Dramanon Hyderabad won at the short and sweet festival held in Hyderabad.
Dramanon as a group also conducts workshops for the community as well as for the corporate companies with customized training modules.
Dramanon was touted by India Today as one of the emerging young English theatre troupes in India. On March 27, 2010, Dramanon celebrated its 10th anniversary by staging COMIKAZE, a theater festival at Manipal. In 2015 dramanon was mentioned in Broadway world on-line magazine as one of the top 8 groups in India.